A high-speed train slammed into another that had stopped on the tracks Wednesday (Oct. 28) in Spain, killing at least 68 people and injuring dozens in the second deadly rail collision this year. The regional government of Castilla La Mancha confirmed the death toll and said another 58 people were receiving medical treatment at hospitals. Rescue workers searched the wreckage through the day for survivors and bodies. The collision came just nine months after another deadly crash involving high-speed trains operated by the same two companies in southern Spain in January.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called for increased safety measures to restore confidence in a high-speed rail system that was once a source of national pride. A train operated by the state-owned RENFE company struck the rear of another train operated by private company IRYO that was stopped. The collision derailed two carriages on the tail of the IRYO train and the front of the RENFE train.

The Ebola outbreak in Congo passed a grim milestone this week - 10,000 confirmed cases - and spurred questions about whether health authorities are losing their ability to contain it. Nearly half the infected people in this outbreak have died, and some experts say there are reasons to worry this could grow into the worst Ebola outbreak in history. Current circumstances suggest it's unlikely to spark significant problems in most other countries, some researchers said. But about 30 confirmed cases have already popped up in other nations.

And the risk that more will appear outside Congo will grow if the outbreak isn't tamed, said Justin Lessler, a University of North Carolina researcher who studies the dynamics of infectious disease outbreaks. Experts also are hopeful that a vaccine will become available next year that could help control it. Africa CDC Director-General Dr. Jean Kaseya has said the continent is "not winning" the fight against Ebola and needs to do more after it spread to multiple African countries.

A jailbreak at a sub-jail in Indian state Tamil Nadu's Theni district was conceived in a matter of hours, with a 26-year-old undertrial allegedly suggesting the idea and another inmate quickly putting it into action by feigning an epileptic seizure, an investigation has revealed. Investigators believe the conspiracy was spontaneous, fuelled by anger among some inmates after their bail pleas were rejected.

As staff approached, the other inmates allegedly raised a hue and cry. After coming out of their block, the group attacked jail staff with kitchen equipment they laid their hands on, overpowered other personnel near the entrance, snatched the keys and escaped. The block held 32 undertrials from which the escape took place. Seventeen fled, while investigators are also examining the role of the remaining inmates, some of whom are suspected to have played a passive or supportive role. Nine jail staff have been suspended for alleged dereliction of duty. The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday transferred DGP Prisons Sandeep Rai Rathore.

Serbia's Aleksandar Vucic conceded defeat to a student-led protest movement in a historic election on Sunday that ends his long grip on power and heralds a new political era in the Balkan country. Vucic, a populist and nationalist, has dominated Serbian politics as prime minister or president since 2014. He had called snap elections in September after almost two years of student-led demonstrations against perceived corruption and creeping authoritarianism triggered by the deaths of 16 people when a train station canopy collapsed in the city of Novi Sad in 2024.

Within moments of his announcement, the streets of Belgrade erupted in celebration. Tens of thousands of people thronged along the city's main boulevards, with cars honking, people dancing and students shouting "victory" and "he's done". The students' win marks a profound political shift in the country of some 6 million people and is reminiscent of the defeat of Hungary's Viktor Orban in April. It may also offer a blueprint for other student movements across Europe.